Announcing a New Blog for Weight Loss Support!

Dear Friends,

Sometimes one comment is all it takes to get the ball rolling for me. How about you? Deb from Jeremiah 29:11 and I had been talking back and forth about our struggles with food and then Dani and CountryMama added to the discussion. Dani said, why don't we be blog buddies and help support each other in our weight loss efforts??

And Ta Da!!A new blog was born!

You can reach it just by clicking on the picture of the chickens there in my side bar. I'm partial to my chickens, being a die-hard chicken lover and I think they make the whole thing seem kind of funny, though our purpose is totally serious. If you would like to join us drop by!

A Blog Where YOU Are the Writer

This is a different kind of blog, because although I will be administrating it, anyone who sends me their email address will be added to the blog as a 'writer'. The blog will show up in their personal list of blogs and members can post whatever they like..their ups, downs, photos, food diaries, struggles, or weight loss tips...even recipes!

All you need to do to join is sign up as a follower, send me an email address so I can add you to our blog writers and then post an introduction to yourself. The rest is up to you! Or if you prefer, you can just 'hang' out and make comments now and then.

Here is a post that I just contributed... Tomorrow, Dani or Deb will be posting or maybe some of our other new members.

Weight Loss Buddies!

Hi, I'm Donna, the admin gal for Gettin' Thin Together and I think the best place for me to start, is just to write down what I eat. Especially since I think that 'unconscious' eating is at the heart of my problem. This post (the first half of it) was taken from Better Health Magazine...You will want to read every word of it!

I know that when I lost the most weight and kept it off, it was because I was writing down what I ate every day. Eventually, I didn't have to any more but

I ate so habitually..most of the day... that I had no idea how much or how often I was eating!

Forget counting the calories...just write it down. It's flat embarrassing! The main idea here is that it helps you hold yourself accountable. Reader's Digest had written an article about this 20 years ago and that's what I was looking for, but this article says it even better. In fact, I'm going to post my food diary once a week to help keep me accountable to you guys!

Here's the article...

Why keeping a food journal will help you lose weightby Better Health Magazine

The secret to shedding pounds, and keeping them off, may be as simple as writing down what you eat and drink in a food journal

A recent study of 1,700 overweight men and women who participated in a six-month weight-loss program found that those who kept daily food records lost twice as much weight as those who kept no records. Participants also exercised, reduced caloric intake and ate low-fat dairy products plus an average of three servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

“Keeping a food diary is one of themost powerful weight-management tools we have,” says Jack Hollis of the Portland, Oregon-based Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research and lead author of the study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Participants were subsequently followed for an additional 30 months, in one of the largest and longest-running weight-loss maintenance trials ever conducted.

Why do food journals work?

“Many of us want food to ‘not count’—because we’re on vacation, we’re in a rush, we’re just finishing off the broken cookies in the bag,” says Colleen Cannon, a clinical psychologist in Calgary who specializes in helping people deal with the emotional side of eating. “The act of writing down what we eat helps to raise awareness about what we’re doing.”

It can also be a tool to get an understanding of portion size. “Writing down what and how much you eat and adding up the calories helps you to eat more mindfully and stay on track,” says Hollis. “When starting out, people tend to underestimate, so it’s best to measure the portion sizes carefully at first.” He adds that for many people, keeping a food journal is a lifelong tool, while others use it if they notice their weight creeps back up.Read the rest of this articlehere.It's fantastic!

Here is good food diary to start with. It's basic and not too complicated.

good luck with your weight loss..when I had my first son it took me ages to lose the weight and I did it my just eating off smaller plates and eating smaller portion sizes and increasing my exercises. I dont agree with stupid diets as they dont work and you are denying yourself a life. The weight keeps off now as I do kickboxing and go to the gym a lot!! Thanks for replying to my post about fav places but what is a tole? The place you describe reminds me of Calico Ghost Town near Barstow which we visited after we got married in Vegas many moons ago

You are so right about keeping a food journal. It has helped me so much. Started tracking my diet about six months ago and have been consistently losing weight and feeling better. I think even beyond keeping you accountable it has helped me make better food choices. I've been using OnTarget Nutrition and it has very nice support which helps me stay motivated.

Welcome to Comin' Home! If you lived nearby, I'd invite you over to my neck of the woods for a nice long chat and a cup of tea out on the deck. But since we can't do that, I hope you'll stay and look around. I love learning new things and sharing what I learn with friends. Comin' Home is where I share tips from my many projects. Let's have some fun together! XO Donna